Tragedy: Lauren Patterson, 24, was murdered in Qatar in October last year

The mother of a British school teacher murdered in Qatar sobbed as her killer was sentenced to death by a court in Qatar today.

Lauren Patterson, 24, from Kent, was sexually assaulted and stabbed before her burnt remains were left smouldering in a remote desert location by a local 'casual acquaintance' in October last year.

Badr Hashim Khamis Abdallah al-Jabr and an accomplice maintained Miss Patterson's death was accidental, but were today found guilty of the brutal killing.

Miss Patterson's grief-stricken mother Alison was in court in Doha to hear the verdict and dropped her head into her hands and let out a brief sob upon hearing the sentence.

She was supported by more than a dozen friends and family in the courtroom.

Another man, Mohamed Abdallah Hassan Abdul Aziz, was jailed for three years for helping the killer to dispose of Miss Patterson's body by burning it, as well as damaging and getting rid of other evidence.

Both men were arrested after Miss Patterson's remains were found in a remote desert spot outside the Qatari capital city of Doha in October last year, shortly after she went missing after a night out.

Her mother said Al-Jabar's sentence meant ‘justice has been served’ for the killing of ‘my beautiful daughter’.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Office, she described Ms Patterson as ‘my closest friend and confidant’ who helped raise her siblings after the sudden death of her father.

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She said: ‘Nothing will ever bring my daughter back. As a family we will never be able to replace the times we were looking forward to: Lauren getting married, having children - all of those things and more have been taken away from us by these two individuals.

‘Even though this trial is now over, we will never forget Lauren, nor the horrific way she was murdered.

‘Because of the truly heinous and brutal way in which Badr Hashim Khamis Abdullah Al-Jabar and Muhammad Abdullah Hassan Abdul Aziz tried to dispose of Lauren's body, we were not able to say a final goodbye.

Unbearable loss: Alison Patterson, pictured with Lauren's uncle Brian Roke, was in court in Doha to hear the verdict and sobbed upon hearing the death sentence for her daughter's killer

'Excited to be back': Lauren Patterson, right, was clubbing with best friend Lea Monet, left, before she was killed. Two Qatari men are on trial and the prosecutor has called for one of them to be given the death penalty

‘This will be etched in my memory till
the day I die. Nothing will ever make the pain and grief that we have
all suffered go away. It is something none of us will forget. ‘

At a hearing earlier this year, Lea Monet
testified how she, Miss Patterson and the two men, who she said they were
'casually acquainted with', had left a nightclub at La Cigale Hotel in Doha
around 3.30am on October 12 last year.

She
said Miss Patterson, who had just returned from attending her
grandmother's funeral in England, was not drunk and was 'aware of her
surroundings'.

She said the men dropped her home with the promise they would also drop off her friend shortly afterwards at her house.

The Miss Monet told the court when she tried to call Miss Patterson the following morning her phone was off.

She said when she asked one of the two men about this, he said he could have dropped off Miss Patterson at the wrong building.

Miss Monet said the next day
she noticed he had a cut on his lower lip and it was swollen, which were
not there when she last saw him.

At the earlier hearing, the prosecutor said one of the defendants took Miss
Patterson to a residence he used for sexual trysts with women, 'conquered her
body', and killed her by stabbing her twice.

Link: Miss Patterson was identified by DNA which was matched to her mother Alison (right), a reflexologist

School: The 24-year-old was working as a teacher at The Newton International School in Doha for several months before she was killed

Favourite: Lauren enjoyed an evening at Club 7, pictured, before she was killed

He
said with the help of the second defendant, he put Miss Patterson's
body in the boot of his car and drove her out of the city of Doha to
Al-Kharrara, where they burned her remains.

He
said Miss Patterson, who worked at a primary school in Doha, had been
sexually assaulted but forensic tests could not prove this because the
remains were too badly burned.

He also petitioned the court for
monetary compensation, saying that Miss Patterson's mother had requested
20 million Qatar Riyal (approximately £3.6 million pounds) be paid by
the defendants - 15 million Qatar Riyal for the pain Miss Patterson must
have endured before her death, and five million Qatar Riyal for the
emotional damage felt by her mother.

Qatari
journalists say MIss Patterson's murder has drawn significant
international attention, and the trial has proceeded quickly through the
country's often slow court system.

The court was told this morning the death penalty would be carried out by either hanging or shooting.

However,
the death sentence has not actually been carried out in Qatar for more
than 10 years despite courts giving out such a punishment for crimes.

The two convicted men did not appear to show any emotion when the verdict and their sentences were announced in court.

They were led out out of court by guards immediately afterwards.

Outside court, Lauren's mum Alison walked along a line of supporters, many of whom were in tears, giving each one a hug.

She declined to comment to the media.

It is not yet known if the convicted men plan to appeal their sentences.